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Tag: Pope John Paul II

With Pope Francis arriving today in Washington D.C., I found this terrific post on WETA’s Boundary Stones blog with an interesting story on a previous Pope’s visit to Alexandria, Virginia (albeit as a Cardinal). We previously posted a pro football in Alexandria story at this link from the Boundary Stones blog as well ICYMI.

Every house has a history but few can say that they were blessed by the Pope – especially here in America. There is, however, one Alexandria, Virginia condominium unit that can make the claim.

In 1976, while still a cardinal – and, thus, still known by his birthname, Karol Józef Wojtyła – the future Pope John Paul II visited the Parkfairfax apartment of Polish-American journalist John Szostak and offered his blessing.

In more ways than one, it was a memorable occasion for Szostak, who lived in a ground floor unit with his wife and two small children. “The cardinal almost fell over a Batmobile car that the children had left in the middle of the floor. I grabbed him just in time to prevent a major ecclesiastic disaster and could just see the headlines, ‘Polish Cardinal Breaks Ankle in American Newsman’s Home.’”